Judges lap it up

They were chosen to judge the Kids Choice category in the 2016 Ice cream Awards.

They got to taste 16 new innovative flavours at the Food Centre in Mangere last Wednesday. Flavours included combinations of boysenberry and yoghurt with boysenberry ripple and marshmallow pieces, crunchy peanut butter, salted peanuts, hazelnut and chocolate or vanilla, gingerbread and dark chocolate sauce.

The enthusiastic young judges told Dairy News they were sworn to keep secret their preferred ice cream in the samples, but said in general they liked their ice cream creamy – or any way at all.

Some ate it only at treat times when friends came over; others said they were allowed it for dessert several times a week.

They had the task of judging the flavours on a scale from 'really yummy' to 'really yucky'.

Winners of all the ice cream awards will be announced on Thursday, May 26 at the awards dinner in Auckland, part of the annual conference of the New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers Association.

There are 11 categories in this year's awards, including the Kids Choice. In contention are 334 ice cream, gelato, sorbet and low fat entries; in 2015 there were 302 entries. The first competition was in 1997 and had 61 entries.

This year the awards have 37 entrants (33 in 2015), including some in an open creative category for cafes, food technology R&D technicians and individuals.

Included this year is a Best in Caramel category. The New to Market Award introduced in 2012 will be presented to the entrant with the highest total score for a new product launched in the previous 12 months.

Since 2012 a Supreme Award has been made for large and boutique manufacturers; the latter must produce no more than 500,000L per annum. This year the Supreme Award will be awarded only to ice cream entrants.